Iran continues to actively expand its network of air defense systems on the territory of Syria in the face of Israeli airstrikes, Newsweek reported on Tuesday, citing an intelligence source in a US ally country.
According to the source, for the last two years Iran has been pursuing a strategy of "deploying its air defense assets in Syria at a cost of tens of millions of dollars." In this way, Tehran, the source claims, intends to "counter Israeli airstrikes."
"The promotion of these combat capabilities is part of a joint project with the Syrian army and possibly even to create conditions for the independent use of air defense systems by Iran on Syrian territory. In addition, the Iranians have helped the Syrians upgrade their radar systems to detect and prevent Israeli attacks - mainly against Iranian facilities in Syria," the source noted.
The source claimed that Iran is deploying upgraded Bavar-373 anti-aircraft missile systems in Syria, designed to hit air targets at a range of 305 kilometers. They carry Sayyad-4B missiles.
The source claims that Israel has carried out seven strikes against Iran's growing air defense network in Syria in the past two years. The last two were carried out in November and December 2022. The source also said that Israeli airstrikes on Syria had killed 10 Iranians in two years. Syria openly accuses Israel of carrying out the attacks; the Jewish state, in turn, does not usually acknowledge or deny them.
In early January, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israel would take vigorous action to prevent Iran from entrenching itself militarily in Syria.
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Based on materials from TASS